England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Aylton Parish Church

The Parish

The parish of Aylton lies in the extreme southeast of Herefordshire not too far from the border with neighbouring Gloucestershire and roughly 4 miles west of the market town of Ledbury.Aylton sits a quarter mile west of the A4172 road, which follows an ancient Roman Road, a linking road connecting the A449 (Ledbury to Ross road) with the A49 (Hereford to Leominster road). Aylton is a tiny place, little more than a hamlet with a cluster of farms and cottages with most sitting around a triangular intersection of lanes by the church. Aylton is a farming parish with a mixture of typical Herefordshire pastures with a cider orchard. Aylton is drained southeastwards by the Preston Brook which soon meets the River Leadon, the latter river continues southeast to meet the Severn at Gloucester before reaching the Outer Bristol Channel through the Severn's estuary. Aylton is sited at around 70 metres above the sea but land rises westwards to 187 metres at Marcle Hill, a ridge which continues rising southwards eventually topping out at 231 metres. Herefordshire is a county with many small parishes and Aylton is one of the smaller, covering a mere 812 acres it would have barely supported 50 parishioners. Aylton is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

Aylton parish church, it has no known dedication, sits just south of the main junction of lanes on the western side of the lane headed for the 19th century house of Aylton Court. The church was originally merely a chapelry of nearby Ledbury but was given full parish status in the 17th century. Like many remote rural churches it has ancient fabric left relatively untouched over the centuries. On the northern wall of the nave is a 12th century Norman Romanesque style window which is set in a wall that Pevsner rightly describes as "alarmingly twisted" and certainly dates from the earliest times. The small chancel was added to the church early in the 14th century and shows the characteristic style of the Decorated in particular in its east window. The 17th century is represented by the rebuilt porch built in timber & brick. Of the little rough-cast bell-turret Pevsner says very little. Two phases of restoration have occurred, the first typically in Victorian times, of 1888 was followed by 20th century work in 1928. Whilst there is a substantial green area outside the church one should beware of its hidden sunken ditch as it is not intended to be used for parking, the lanes are, however, rather quiet so on-street and careful is the rule. The church is tightly enclosed by a chest-high hedge which means that the better images are from beyond this feature.